Umno looking for a path into PH?

That could be the reason behind Annuar Musa’s tribute to Anwar Ibrahim, says an analyst.

(FMT) – A political analyst has interpreted Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa’s praise of PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim as a sign that there are elements in the Malay party who are keen to work with him, his party or Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Kamarul Zaman Yusoff of Universiti Utara Malaysia told FMT he had heard talk that some Umno members would like to see their party join PH if Anwar were to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister and the coalition’s leader.

He said many elements in Umno, including most of those serving as MPs, appeared to have a problem working with Mahathir.

Annuar, in a recent Facebook posting, paid tribute to Anwar for his stand on issues affecting Malay and Muslim interests and said Malaysia was in urgent need of his leadership.

Kamarul said he believed there was no way Umno could return to power without either joining PH or merging with one of its member parties, particularly PKR.

He acknowledged suspicions that Annuar, believing there was a wedge between Mahathir and Anwar, was trying to drive it further in, but he said he would stand by his interpretation.

He noted that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Anwar were perceived to have had a friendly relationship and said it was possible that one of Annuar’s intentions was to strengthen the perception.

However, he said it was doubtful that Anwar would work with Umno unless Mahathir went against him.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya agreed with Kamarul that Annuar might have been looking for a way to save his party from becoming irrelevant.

He said it was possible that he was hoping PKR, or a faction of it, would agree to a form of alliance with Umno.

However, he added, it was also possible that he was attempting to break the relationship between Anwar and Mahathir.

Mahathir has rejected an allegation by two contenders in the PKR polls that his ally, government adviser Daim Zainuddin, was out to stop Anwar from becoming prime minister as well as another allegation that he and Daim were plotting to destroy PKR.